While culture lovers are eagerly waiting for the Night of Museum, a cosy house at Mārstaļu iela 6 in our capital’s Old Town is still on the way towards meeting its guests, as under the management of SJSC State Real Estate (SRE), it prepares to become the future home of the Museum of Music and Writing (RMM).
RMM’s permanent exhibits will move into the 1400 sq. m. wide premises of the Mārstaļu building once the construction ends in late 2022; there will be exhibitions and a courtyard equipped for creative events. AS UPB has been working on the renovation of the historical building using the design by ‘Arhitektu birojs Krasts’ since summer 2021.
So far, the project has seen most of the dismantling work completed, removing all of the layers of finish that had no value and the unnecessary partitions set up in the last few decades. The building contains evidence of Riga’s history going back as far as 400 years and removing layers of finish not only reveals unique historical items, but also sometimes requires making adjustments in the design solutions, which SRE does in conjunction with the building contractor and the operator.
The building’s attic has not seen any use for a long time and will become open to visitors as an event space with exposed historical structures. The plank lining on the attic is now being carefully removed, and the structures are being filled anew. The basement will present a historic brick vault, with the layers of old finish removed. As a result of the restoration, the facade of the building will recover its original glory and will become one of the eye-magnets of the area. Dirt and detaching finish have been removed for creating this new look.
Along with the renovation of the Mārstaļu iela 6 building, SRE offers a 2021 video about its history and a vision for its future.
Currently RMM resides and keeps its collection of cultural history at the museum storage facility at Pulka iela 8, which is one of the most important development projects that SRE carried out in recent years. The storage facility has a floor area of more than 30 thousand square metres and contains the biggest collection of Latvian historical objects and art, with some two million items from the Latvian National Museum of Art, Museum of Music and Writing, Riga Film Museum, and National History Museum of Latvia. Among other projects intended to preserve cultural heritage and managed by SRE, it is worth mentioning the ongoing restoration of the Riga Castle Convent and its rebuilding for the needs of the National History Museum of Latvia, and the renovation of the Museum of the Occupation of Latvia in 2021. SRE manages more than 30 museums in Latvia as tenants.
SRE currently continues working on 46 different national construction sites, with a total project budget of more than 230 million euros. The company provides professional real estate management and administration for approximately 365 real estate properties consisting of 1100 buildings with a total floor area of 0.95 million square metres, along with land beneath the buildings covering 602 hectares and more than 3536 land properties with an area of 903 hectares. SRE is one of 23 Latvian companies that has received the highest platinum award as part of the Sustainability Index of the Institute of Corporate Responsibility and Sustainability, confirming the good governance and sustainability of its operations. The company was founded in 1996 and is 100% owned by the Ministry of Finance of the Republic of Latvia.
